Northrop Grumman Corp. and the parent company of European jet-maker Airbus have agreed to join forces to try to break Boeing Co.’s monopoly on supplying refueling planes to the U.S. Pentagon, The Wall Street Journal reported.
European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and L.A.-based Northrop have a draft agreement and EADS plans to announce on June 22 where it will build a U.S. factory for the project if it wins the Pentagon contract.
The news report comes a day after the Pentagon’s inspector general issued a report that said the Air Force ignored legal requirements and violated its own rules as U.S. officials pushed for a now-canceled $23.5 billion deal to lease and buy refueling tankers from Boeing.
